Basketball The Best NBA Players with No Championship Rings

Originally by Ranker Community

169k votes 19k voters 278.4k views 447 items

List Rules Only Professional NBA Basketball Players who have never won a championship ring

List of the greatest NBA basketball players of all time who never won a championship ring. Though winning a championship is the ultimate goal of any team in any league, often circumstances conspire to keep even the most elite athletes from actually making it to that pinnacle of achievement. Thus, it has become a known and accepted truth that there must be other ways to measure the greatness of a basketball icon other than counting up their actual championship record. A number of lesser players whose names have been all but forgotten to history have collected more rings than legends like Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, and Reggie Miller.

But what other measurements can be used to evaluate the dominance of a given player, if not by the rings on their fingers? Perhaps participation in NBA All Star competitions? Their central importance to a particular team or city? It'd be hard to argue against the greatness of six-time NBA All Star Shawn Kemp, nor to deny his integral position on the '90s Seattle Sonics. Yet in may ways because of the dominance of Michael Jordan's Bulls dynasty, Kemp was never part of a championship team.

Below, vote for your favorite players who never managed to clinch a championship victory. And if you think a key player has been left off the list, add them by making your own re-ranked version. Thanks to your votes, we'll create a list of the best NBA players without a ring.

Stephen John "Steve" Nash, OC, OBC is a Canadian retired professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association. He was an eight-time NBA All-Star and a ...more

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Patrick Aloysius Ewing, Sr. is a Jamaican-American retired Hall of Fame basketball player. He played most of his career with the NBA's New York Knicks as their starting center and played briefly ...more

Jacques Dominique Wilkins is a retired American professional basketball player who primarily played for the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA. Wilkins was a nine-time NBA All-Star, and one of the best ...more

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Elgin Gay Baylor is a retired American basketball player, coach, and executive. He played 13 seasons as a forward in the National Basketball Association for the Minneapolis / Los Angeles Lakers, ...more

Peter Press "Pistol Pete" Maravich was an American professional basketball player. He was born and raised in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Maravich ...more

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Vincent Lamar Carter (born January 26, 1977) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) tall ...more

Tracy Lamar McGrady, Jr. is an American retired professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association. He is a seven-time NBA All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, and a ...more

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Christopher Emmanuel Paul (born May 6, 1985) is an American professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has won the NBA Rookie of the ...more

Grant Henry Hill is a retired American basketball player. Hill played for four teams in his professional career in the National Basketball Association; the Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, ...more

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Russell Westbrook Jr. is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association. Westbrook played college basketball ...more

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Shawn Travis Kemp is a retired American professional basketball player, who played in the National Basketball Association for 14 seasons. He was a six-time NBA All-Star and a three-time All-NBA ...more

Carmelo Kyam Anthony (born May 29, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been named an NBA All-Star ten ...more

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Yao Ming is a retired Chinese professional basketball player who played for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association. He was selected to start for the Western Conference in the ...more